Included in this consideration are the sins of contempt, malice, hatred, and denigration. These are grave sins when committed against any human person (or against God or His holy angels). These sins are directly contrary to the Commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself,” which extends even to “love your enemies,” and can be expressed in its most perfect form as Christ saying “Love one another as I have loved you”. Now the first and greatest Commandment is to love God above all things, with your whole being. But we also know that whoever hates his neighbor, does not love God.

[1 John]
{4:19} Therefore, let us love God, for God first loved us.
{4:20} If anyone says that he loves God, but hates his brother, then he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he does see, in what way can he love God, whom he does not see?
{4:21} And this is the commandment that we have from God, that he who loves God must also love his brother.

If you hate your brother, you do not love God. But the term “brother” here is like the term “neighbor” in “love your neighbor as yourself” — these terms mean any other human person. You should be treating other persons like a neighbor, or a brother or sister, that is to say, like a human person made in the image of Christ.

For Christ plays in ten thousand places
Lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes, not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces
— Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J.

And this teaching, that in loving your neighbor, you love God, and in hating your neighbor, you do not love God, applies also to the Vicar of Christ, the Roman Pontiff. Those who hate the Pope, do not love God.

You can disagree with your brother. You can have just anger toward your neighbor. You can feel a range of emotions toward other human persons. But you cannot treat your brother or sister with hatred or contempt or malice or denigration or derision or the like. And this applies to the Pope as well. You can disagree with the Pope, and you might have some strong emotions about a particular Pope. But you cannot hate the Pope or anyone else and still love God.

Whoever treats the Roman Pontiff with malice or the like not only violates the Commandment to love your neighbor, but also offends Christ even more so, since the Roman Pontiff represents Christ and exercises the authority of Christ Himself. The Pope does not merely exercise an authority given to him by Christ. The Pope exercises the very authority of Christ himself over heaven and earth. That is why, what the Pope binds or looses on earth, is bound or loosed even in heaven.

Suppose you disagree with a non-infallible teaching or decision of discipline of the Pope. He could be wrong, to a limited extent, in what is non-infallible. And lets suppose, that when you eventually die of very old age, you stand before Christ in the particular judgment. And, in this hypothetical, Christ informs you of two things. The first is that you were right and the Pope was wrong. It’s nice to be proven right, isn’t it? The second is that you treated the Pope with malice or contempt or hatred or derision, over this dispute on doctrine or discipline, and so you committed an actual mortal sin, without repentance, and so you died without the state of grace and without the love of God and neighbor in your soul. Then God will send you to Hell to be punished forever. But it’s nice that you won your argument with the Pope, isn’t it?

Do not lose your eternal salvation because, thinking you were right and the Pope was wrong, you treated him in such a way that no Christian should ever treat anyone ever. Malice, contempt, hatred, denigration, and the like can be a mortal sin; derision and mockery of anyone, can be an expression of those sins as well. God is the judge of minds, hearts, and souls. But you know the teaching of the Gospel on love of God and neighbor. In addition, since the Roman Pontiff represents Christ, the Son of God, it is possible to commit indirect blasphemy by the way that you treat the Vicar of Christ.

Now suppose that you have a long series of complaints about the Roman Pontiff. You think that Pope Francis (or any other Pope) is so very wrong, on so many issues of faith, morals, and discipline. And you can explain why he’s wrong on dozens of different decisions he has made under the Keys of Saint Peter. Those decisions, in this hypothetical, are non-infallible, so he could err — but only to a limited extent. You are certain that you are correct, and there are many (seemingly) faithful, holy, and scholarly members of the clergy and laity who agree with you, along with a few Cardinals or Bishops. Does that prove that you are right? No.

Even if it were possible that the Pope could be wrong on all of those many points, what are the odds? Without considering the help of God given to every Roman Pontiff when he teaches and guides the Church, just on human terms, what are the odds that on every one of many different issues of doctrine and discipline, you and your peers are right and he is wrong? Are you and your peers infallible or indefectible? No.

Any Roman Pontiff has been a Catholic for many years, a priest for many years, a Bishop likely for many years, a Cardinal for some length of time. And if the Bishops, despite a few harsh critics here and there, also agree, as a body, with his decisions of doctrine and discipline, what are the odds that you are right? Zero. You would have to be filled to overflowing with pride, filled with arrogance and self-importance to an astounding degree, to think that you are right and the Pope is wrong on every single point where your understanding differs from his. And that, as I said, is without considering the help of God given to every Pope.

Now consider that every Pope and the body of Bishops at all times have the help of God –continuously, not only when they teach under infallibility. Even though the non-infallible magisterium of the Pope can err to some extent, the Magisterium of the Church and especially of the Apostolic See, cannot be habitually mistaken, cannot lead the Church or the faithful astray, cannot err gravely, and cannot harm the indefectibility of the Church.

Cardinal Ratzinger as Prefect of the CDF: “But it would be contrary to the truth, if, proceeding from some particular cases, one were to conclude that the Church’s Magisterium can be habitually mistaken in its prudential judgments, or that it does not enjoy divine assistance in the integral exercise of its mission…. Even if the doctrine of the faith is not in question, the theologian will not present his own opinions or divergent hypotheses as though they were non-arguable conclusions.”

The Pope and the body of Bishops, exercising the Magisterium even non-infallibly, cannot be habitually mistaken. And if you disagree with a non-infallible teaching, you must never present your positions, in contradiction to the Magisterium, as if they were “non-arguable conclusions.”

Ratzinger continues: “Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and in a particular way, to the Roman Pontiff as Pastor of the whole Church, when exercising their ordinary Magisterium, even should this not issue in an infallible definition or in a “definitive” pronouncement but in the proposal of some teaching which leads to a better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals and to moral directives derived from such teaching.

“One must therefore take into account the proper character of every exercise of the Magisterium, considering the extent to which its authority is engaged. It is also to be borne in mind that all acts of the Magisterium derive from the same source, that is, from Christ who desires that His People walk in the entire truth. For this same reason, magisterial decisions in matters of discipline, even if they are not guaranteed by the charism of infallibility, are not without divine assistance and call for the adherence of the faithful.” [Donum Veritatis]

Vatican I: “The Son of God, redeemer of the human race, our lord Jesus Christ, promised, when about to return to his heavenly Father, that he would be with this Church militant upon earth all days even to the end of the world. Hence never at any time has he ceased to stand by his beloved bride, assisting her when she teaches, blessing her in her labors and bringing her help when she is in danger.” [Dei Filius, introduction, n. 1]

Jesus promised that He would always be with His Church, and the First Vatican Council teaches that “never at any time has He ceased” to stand by the Church, to assist Her when She teaches, to bless Her works, and to help Her in any danger. Those who claim that the Pope or the body of Bishops or an Ecumenical Council has led the Church astray, or taught grave errors on doctrine or discipline, or taught or committed heresy, are contradicting the words of Jesus in the Gospels, the dogmas of the Church, and many different teachings of the Magisterium. See many of these teachings here.

Could you be right, and the Pope wrong, on one point or another? Yes. But not if the dispute is such that either the Pope is right, or else he is teaching material heresy or is guilty of formal heresy. If either the Pope is right or he is a heretic, then he is right. The charism of truth and never-failing faith prevents the Pope from grave failures in faith and grave errors on doctrine or discipline. So if either you are wrong, or the Pope has erred gravely on doctrine or discipline, then you are wrong. And if you accuse any Pope or Council of heresy or of leading the Church astray or of grave errors, then you are making a false accusation that is contrary to dogma, a false accusation against the Vicar of Christ, Head of the body of Christ, and Rock on which the Church is founded.

And the same principle applies to the body of Bishops led by the Pope, whether gathered in an Ecumenical Council or dispersed in the world. To whatever extent the Pope and/or the body of Bishops teach or rule non-infallibly, they can err, but only to a limited extent, and never to the extent of apostasy, idolatry, heresy, schism, blasphemy, or any other grave failing of faith. So if you are accusing the Pope, the body of Bishops, or an Ecumenical Council of heresy, then without doubt you are a schismatic and a heretic. For there is no possibility that the Church has lost Her indefectibility, or that the Pope has failed in faith (for every Pope has the charism of truth and never-failing faith), nor is it possible that the body of Bishops (whose faith is confirmed by the Pope through this same charism) have failed in faith (cf. Lk 22:32).

You can disagree with the Pope’s personal opinions, off-the-cuff remarks, opinions on matters not of doctrine or discipline, and his personal approach to preaching and teaching (as opposed to the content). You can disagree to a limited extent with the Pope’s non-infallible teaching or decisions on discipline; the extent of possible disagreement is the same as the extent of possible error. But Christ guarantees the indefectibility of the Church. Consider what Pope Saint Paul VI said to bishop Lefebvre:

Pope Saint Paul VI: “We are the guarantor of this, not in virtue of Our personal qualities but in virtue of the charge which the Lord has conferred upon Us as legitimate successor of Peter, and in virtue of the special assistance that He has promised to Us as well as to Peter: ‘I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail’ (Lk. 22:32). The universal episcopate is guarantor with us of this.”

There is a limit to the extent to which a Roman Pontiff can err when exercising the Keys of Peter non-infallibly. This is guaranteed by the Lord Jesus due to the charism of truth and never-failing faith and the indefectibility of the Church. Therefore, if you find that the Pope has erred gravely on doctrine or discipline, or that he has failed gravely faith, you must consider, as a matter of faith in Christ, that perhaps you have misunderstood. God limits the extent of error possible in a Pope’s official decisions; but individual members of the faithful, from Cardinals on down to the least of the faithful, can err to any extent, as individual or small groups.

Therefore, do not become angry if you think that the Pope has erred gravely or has failed in faith. Instead, consider that you are fallible and might have erred. And do not treat the Pope or anyone else in a way contrary to the love of God and neighbor.

Ronald L Conte Jr